Rescue Equipment W/ AFG

Has any dept received an AFG for rescue equipment? Our deptartment is looking to purchase a complete set of rescue equipment but we cannot do it without the aid of grnat money. We haved tried for the past two years to apply for new jaws but keep getting the rejection letter. Does anyone have any tips or help that can assist us writing a better grant and have better chances for an award letter? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The big question is whether or not you're making it to Peer Review with the application. If it's not being read, then it basically comes down to your department not being competitive for that project, in this case jaws. If you are making it to PR then odds are the narrative is missing something. Lots of folks are being funded for rescue tools so it's not impossible, you just have to make sure you're asking for the right thing in the right way, for the right reasons.

I have a few samples on my web site from all different projects. Take a gander at them for flow, arguments presented, etc, etc. Compare that to what you've been submitting and see how it stacks up. That's what I've been doing for many, many moons: reading applications.

We were funded for a complete new set of rescue tools in 2005. Spreaders, cutters, combi tool, 2 power units, and 2 rams. Did 65 rescue calls in 2004 with 10 pins and 2 fatals. Cover our own area plus 3 others on mutual aid.

Follow Brian's advice and show the need for the equipment. Previous incidents, the area and roads covered (we cover 2 heavily traveled interstates), and what you are using now. Our original spreaders and cutters were from 1978. Still did the job, but with the new auto technology out there, we knew we were going to get in too deep at some point.

I also had this coupled with a new breathing air compressor, fill station, and cascade system. Showed the need for the equipment and luckily it worked.

A department near by recieved funding in 2005 for extrication equipment and an air bag system. So it's not impossible to get funded.

If you are not getting to peer review. Have a fresh pair of eyes look at the app to see if any mistakes are being made answering the questions. It's very easy to make mistakes and not notice them yourself.

If you are making it to PR then some part(s) of the narrative are not compelling or you are leaving the PR's with more questions.

Other points to bring up that may help. How far away and how long would it take mutual aid companies to arrive? How does not having extrication equipment impact the "Golden Hour" rule for trauma patients? If you have extrication equipment is it a money pit for maintenance. Is the equipment down more than it's up and running.

The other issue is, did you use the same exact narrative the second time as you did the first time? You should be making adjustments to make the narrative better.

Thanks for all your help. I made it to PR the f2 yrs ago but not last year. I even left things out of the grant two years ago and made it farther then filling in everything this past year. I take put into the narrative about the age of our tools( over 20 years old), mutual aid response time coupled in there with the "golden hour". We are a neighboring community to a nuclear plant. I have put in there about covering all major evacuation routes, emergency hwys routes, and others. I will try again this year. Thanks for all your help.